MoD may buy American planes to replace axed £3bn Nimrod

Boeing is understood to be talking to the Government about supplying its P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft as a multi-billion pound replacement for the British-built Nimrod, which was controversially scrapped in defence cuts.

The Poseidon is based on the US plane maker’s 737, one of the world’s most widely-used airliners, though it has a number of modifications including reinforced wings to help on low-altitude patrols and a missile-carrying and anti-submarine capacity.

The Poseidon, which flew at the Farnborough Airshow this weekend, costs nearly £114million per plane. The US navy has ordered 117, while India and Australia have also placed orders.

Scrapped: The axed Nimrod MRA4

Boeing, which declined to comment, has estimated that at least 15 countries could be interested in the plane and has said international orders could total 60 aircraft.

Nimrod was axed by the Coalition following its last Strategic Defence and Security Review in 2010.

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The move was aimed at saving the Government £2billion, though £3.4billion had already been ploughed into the Nimrod programme in total.

Nine new Nimrod MRA4s being built by BAE Systems at a factory in Manchester were scrapped and sold to scrap metal merchants. They were due to be handed to the RAF by 2012.

The decision meant that Britain is without a specialist, long-range maritime surveillance aircraft – a gap which critics say has left the country vulnerable at a time of increased activity by Russia in the North Sea. Allies such as Norway and Canada attacked the decision since it has meant that they had to extend their own patrols to cover areas of the Arctic, for instance, which the UK no longer monitors.

The Ministry of Defence said: ‘Since the Nimrod MR2 was taken out of service in 2010, the MoD currently provides maritime surveillance through a combination of layered capabilities including surface ships, submarines, and Merlin, Sentry and C-130 Hercules aircraft.

‘We continue to assess future requirements ahead of a decision in the next Strategic Defence and Security Review in 2015 and are considering a number of potential capability solutions.’

The Poseidon is regarded as the most capable of the aircraft which could be considered for the maritime patrol role, while the Airbus Military C-295 and the Bombardier Dash are other possible considerations.